Panic Shack are back with their first new music in over two years.
Gok Wan is a fiery critique of beauty culture in the noughties that arrives off the back of the Cardiff punks' tours with Bob Vylan and Soft Play, plus several festival appearances, including Glastonbury, Reading and Leeds, Green Man, and SXSW. The band said:
"Growing up in the '00s we were bombarded with constant images of super skinny models and ‘IT girls’ as well as TV shows all about ‘looking good’ and ‘being thin’. We wanted to write a song that embodied the ludicrous nature of what we were consuming as literal children and how it affected us then and to this day.
"We dug deep into our shared memories of that time, bought some trashy magazines at the corner shop and watched some old shows on YouTube, ‘Trinny and Susannah’ and ‘Ten Years Younger’ being a couple… but honestly there are SO MANY to choose from. It was shocking to watch them back. The stark difference to what’s acceptable now, discussing women’s bodies with such negativity felt satirical, albeit a plus knowing things have come along a fair bit since then. We took headlines from the magazines and worked a few into the lyrics, ‘fat or pregnant’ being one, yes that’s a genuine magazine headline.
"The title Gok Wan comes from the show he presented How To Look Good Naked which in all honestly was one of the better shows, in terms of negativity but still obviously had the main focus on women’s bodies. No hate to Gok (Trinny and Susannah didn’t have the same ring to it for a title), it was the time we lived in and through but it was still shit, it still shaped our little teenager minds into this grown up hellscape of constantly focusing on how we look rather than what we do."
Produced by Ali Chant, it marks the band's first release since their 2022 debut EP, 'Baby Shack', and their subsequent single Meal Deal, released later that year. Head below to view the new song's accompanying video, directed by Ren Faulkner with choreography by Lauren Fretwell.
Panic Shack will embark on their Don't Quit Your Day Job Tour across the UK in May. They'll also play Liverpool Sound City, Focus Wales in Wrexham, In It Together Festival in Margam, South Wales, 2000trees in Cheltenham, and Homestead Festival in Portishead over the coming months. Tickets are on sale now.
Panic Shack Upcoming Tour Dates are as follows
Thu May 01 2025 - NOTTINGHAM Bodega Social Club
Fri May 02 2025 - CAMBRIDGE Mash
Sat May 03 2025 - NORWICH Norwich Arts Centre
Tue May 06 2025 - BRIGHTON Patterns
Thu May 08 2025 - BIRMINGHAM Castle and Falcon
Sat May 10 2025 - LEEDS Wardrobe
Sun May 11 2025 - NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE Cluny
Tue May 13 2025 - GLASGOW King Tuts
Wed May 14 2025 - SHEFFIELD Yellow Arch Studios
Thu May 15 2025 - LIVERPOOL Arts Club Loft
Fri May 16 2025 - MANCHESTER Band on the Wall
Sun May 18 2025 - OXFORD Bullingdon
Mon May 19 2025 - SOUTHAMPTON Papillon
Tue May 20 2025 - MILTON KEYNES Craufurd Arms
Thu May 22 2025 - BRISTOL Thekla
Sun May 25 2025 - NEWPORT Newport Corn Exchange
Wed May 28 2025 - LONDON Garage
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